Piano action



Patented Feb. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 22 Claims.

This invention relates to an action for musical instruments, for example, pianos or like instruments in which a hammer is caused to impinge upon a vibrator to emit a musical tone.

In this type of action, the impulse that drives the hammer forward to the string, is imparted to it from the forward end of the key through an abstract, the upper end of which rests on the capstan screw, and the lower end of which is attached to a whippen and carries the jack that imparts the movement to the hub or butt of the hammer. In prior constructions of this type, it has been the practice to provide a link pivotally supported from the hammer rail and pivotally attached to the abstract so as to operate as a guide for the abstract as it moves up and down when its key is struck. One of the objects of the present invention is to provide means for guiding the abstract, which will avoid the necessity for employing a guide link such as described.

In this type of construction, the upper end of the abstract is formed with a gooseneck that projects over the forward end of the key, and which carries a pad that is engaged by the capstan screw. One of the objects of this invention is to provide guiding means which will operate to maintain the abstract in a substantially fixed vertical plane as it moves up and down in operation; in other words, to provide simple means for maintaining the gooseneck and pad in proper alignment with the axis of its operating key.

In this action, the abstract is supported on the capstan screw of its operating key, and one of the objects of the invention is to provide simple means associated with th uiding means for enabling the abstract to be supported in a substantially upright position when its operating key has been removed, thereby leaving the abstract unsupported.

Another object of the invention is to provide the head of the abstract that projects over the capstan screw, with simple means for securing its pad in position, that will avoid the necessity for securing the pad in position with an adhesive. The adhesive hardens the pad, and makes the action noisier. My means of attachment eliminates this noise.

Another object of the invention is to provide the abstract head with a form that will facilitate its disengagement from its capstan screw by a simple movement toward the keyboard, so as to facilitate the removal of the action from the instrument when desired.

In an action of this type, when a key is struck and held down, the counter-checkcarried by the hammer butt, engages the back-check, and this supports the hammer in its back-check position so that the hammer is held near the string in readiness to strike the string again upon a quick repeat movement of that key. The distance of the hammer from the string or vibrator must be nicely regulated, and one of the objects of this invention is to provide a simple construction and mounting for the back-check, that will enable this regulation to be accomplished.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved construction for the back-check itself, includin means for securing its pad or buckskin to it without the necessity for employing an adhesive for this purpose.

Heretofore in the construction of piano actions, it has been the general practice to bush the whippen or abstract at its pivotal connection to the jack, that imparts the striking movement to the hammer. One of the objects of this invention is to provide a construction for the abstract and the jack, which is pivotally attached to the same, which will enable the pivot pin to be rigidly secured at its ends to the abstract, and to provide a construction whereby the jack will present two separated bushed bearings for the pivot pin.

Another object of the invention is to provide an abstract having features of construction that adapt it to cooperate with other parts of the action to accomplish the objects stated above.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cross-sectional form for the abstract, that adapts it to be formed of metal, and which facilitates employing a construction for the same that will provide for the attainment of an improved guiding effect for the abstract in its movements imparted to it by its key; also to provide a construction for the abstract that will particularly adapt it for facilitating the mounting and adjustment of the back-check and the provision of the bushed jack carried by the lower portion of the abstract. My general purpose is to stiifen the abstract and provide a construction that will prevent its elongation or distortion when imparting the movement to the jack.

Another object of the invention is to provide a blank of simple construction, particularly adapted to be formed so that it will have a channel form of cross-section and side bars or flanges particularly adapted to cooperate with other novel features of the action, and also adaptin it readily to have a form for securing pads where necessary without the necessity of employing adhesives to secure the same in position.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an efficient piano action.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, while the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section taken through an action for a piano or the like, and in this view portions of the abstract are broken away to illustrate details of the head of the abstract that is supported on the capstan screw; andalso showing the back check, and with a portion of the abstract in section in the vicinity of the back-check. This View shows the forward end of the key broken away.

. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the head of the abstract looking upwardly at about the level of the line 22 on Fig. 1, but omitting the capstan screw through which this line passes.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the metal portion of the abstract, and showing the back-check mounted in the same. This view shows these parts as viewed from the position of the line 33 adjacent to Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan of the back-check removed from the abstract.

Fig; 5 is a horizontal section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1, and particularly illustrating the construction of the abstract that facilitates guiding the same in its travel when actuated byits key. This is a fragmentary view showing a portion of the guide rails broken away.

Fig. 6 is a section about on the line 6-6 of Figs 1, passing through the pivotal connection between the jack and the lower end of the ab-- stract. This view is broken away and is upon a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Fig, '7 is a-fragmentary horizontal sectional View taken on the line 1-4 of Fig. 8, illustrating a modified construction for guiding the abstract.

Fig. 8 is a vertical section taken about on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7, and further illustrating this modified construction.

Fig; 9 is a plan on a small scale of a blank that I prefer to employ for making the abstract of my invention of sheet metal or, other sheet material. This blank has features of form and construction that particularly adapt it to be shaped up so as to incorporate in it all of the features that enable it to cooperate with other parts of this apparatus to accomplish the'objects of my invention.

.Referring particularly to Fig. 1, l indicates the action rail upon the upper side of which the hammer butt 2 is pivotally mounted at 3, and this'hammer butt carries a hammer shank 4 to which the hammer head 5 is attached in the usual manner. When the forward end of the key 6 of the action is struck, the head 1 of the abstract 8 is lifted. The lower end of the abstract has a foot 9 bent away from the action rail, and the upper end of this foot is pivotally attached to the jack Ill, the'upper end of which thrusts against a pad ll on the hammer butt to drive the hammer forward. The lower end of the foot'9 is pivotally attached at 2 to a whippen [3 that guides the lower end of the abstract as it rises. I

'As the jack travels upwardly in the striking movement, eventually its heel l4 strikes the kick- 4 off pad I5 that eases the upper end of the jack off of the pad ll so that the key travels forwardly by its own inertia in the usual manner in actions of this kind.

My improvement particularly concerns the construction of the abstract, but also includes the back-check carried on the abstract, and the pivotal connection between the foot 9 of the abstract and the lower end of the jack. It also concerns the construction of the head 1 and resides also in the form of the blank which is particularly adapted for being shaped up to enable the abstract to cooperate in effecting the objects of this invention.

The hammer butt 2 is provided with a countercheck head 16 with its pad ll, which is supported on its own stem ES extending up from the upper end of the hammer butt, and substantially parallel with the shank i of the hammer. At the proper point on the abstract and at about its middle, it supports the back-check 59 which is shown in section in Fig. 1, and which is also illustrated in plan in Fig. 4. This back-check is most conveniently formed of plate material, and while it may be formed of a plastic, I prefer to form it from thin sheet metal. It presents a curved body portion 26 with a relatively thin pad or buckskin 2i which seats upon the convex upper side of the body 28. The material of the body is bent down to form side flanges or cheek plates 22 to fit against the inside of side bars or flanges 23 of the abstract. (See Figure 3.)

It is common practice to secure the back-check pad in position by employing an adhesive. However, I prefer to provide th back-check with means for clamping the buckskin 25 in place, and for this purpose I provide the tip of the back-check with an inwardly turned flange 25 that is adapted to be crimped down on the adjacent edge of the outer end of the buckskin. (See Fig. 4.)

The inner end of the buckskin, that is to say, the end adjacent the pivot pin 26, is also held in position, and for this purpose I prefer to strike a small tongue 26 upwardly from the material under which the inner end of the buckskin is received and clamped by forcing the tongue 26 down upon it. vOf course,.when the tongue 26 is struck upwardly in this way, a small opening is left in the plate material which was occupied by the tongue 26. The result of this is that an edge 2? will be presented, which cooperates with the tongue 26 in securely holding the inner end of the buckskin.

In Fig. 4, the location of the axis of the pin 2G is indicated by the dotted line 28, and on the side of this .line remote from the body 20 of the back-checkthe width of the back-check is reduced to form a butt 29. The two side flanges 22 of the back-check at this point, come close together, one of them being indicated at the right in Fig. 3 by the reference numeral 22a. This tail 29 is constructed so that it, or a part of it, can be readily bent laterally, and I utilize this feature to enable the position of this adjusting part to control the position at which the back-check will hold its buckskin pad. For this purpose the flange 22a is made somewhat longer vertically than the opposite flange, and isbent round at-the bottom to form a small hook" 30. The convex lower face of this hook is held against an inclined edge or'rest'3l that'extends transversely across the abstractat the lower edge of the opening 32 in which the back-check is mounted. If desired, this edge 3! may be formed as an outwardly bent lip as illustrated in Fig. 1. With this construction it will be evident that by bending the flange 22a laterally in either direction, the hook 38 will be shifted along the inclined lip 3|, and this will raise or lower the position of the body of the back-check.

In order to facilitate making this adjustment, I prefer to form a slot 33 in the flange 22a, and this slot preferably extends up into the web 34 of the material that connects the two flanges of the tail 29. In this way, a notch 35 is formed in the top side of the tail. The upper end of the coil spring is seated against two shoulders 38 formed at each side of a downwardly projecting tongue 39 that projects down at the upper end of the opening in which the spring is located. This opening is indicated at 32a in the blank shown in Fig. 9. In reading Fig. 3, it should be understood that the spring is omitted from this view for the sake of clearness, but it is shown in Fig. 1. This tongue projects far enough down into the spring to insure that it cannot be dislodged. However, it should be understood that there is no substantial upward movement of the tail of the back-check at any time, and the only movement it has is that due to the lateral adjusting movement of the flange 22a referred to above. Such an adjusting movement would shift the position of the buckskin 21 up or down. In Fig. 1, I indicate such an upward shifting by the curved dotted line 40. However, it will be noted that the base of the spring is located between the pivot pin 24 and the lip 3|, so that the tail 29 of the back-check is always held firmly against the inclined lip 3|. It should be understood that the adjusted position of the back-check determines the position in which the hammer head 5 will be held when a key is depressed and held down.

Such a back-check position for the hammer is not illustrated in this patent, but is shown clearly in Fig. 2 in my prior Patent No. 2,266,690, granted Dec. 16, 1941. In my prior patent, the adjustment is effected through the agency of an adjusting screw that supported an adjustable rest for the tail of the back-check on the abstract. As indicated in Fig. 3, the width of the abstract is considerably increased to provide the opening 32 in which the back-check is mounted. However, the typical width of the abstract is indicated in Fig. 3, and this width is continued throughout the entire length of the abstract.

I shall now describe the means for guiding the upper portion of the abstract. By reason of the guiding means that I provide, the head i of the abstract will always be maintained in alignment with the capstan screw 4| that is disposed under it, and which lifts the head when the key 6 is depressed at the keyboard. In order to accomplish this without in any way interfering with the free travel of the abstract when actuated by the key 6, I provide a base guide rail 42 that is preferably secured in position below the hammer rail 43, and this base rail 42 supports the main guide rail 44 that rests upon it and projects outwardly beyond the forward edge 45 of the base guide. This enables me to provide a relatively long slot 46 (see Fig. 1) in the main guide rail, and a shorter slot 41 in the base guide rail that underlies the forward end of this upper slot 46. This arrangement is clearly shown in Fig. 5 as well as in Fig. 1, and in Fig. 5 the side felts 48 for the edges of these slots are illustrated. These felts 48 operate as guides for the side flanges 8a and 8b of the abstract, which project back into the slot from the web 8c of the abstract (see Fig.

5). Of course, if these flanges 8a and 8b were made quite long, they would of themselves, provide sufficient guiding effect to insure that the head '1 would always be maintained in line with the rear end of the key 6. However, in order to increase this guiding effect, I prefer to provide the flanges 8a and 8b with laterally offset integral extensions or tongues 49. These tongues extend downwardly in the same planes as the flanges 8a, and extend through the upper slot 46 and down into the lower slot 4'! that is in the base guide rail 42. It will be evident that in this way a very effective guide for the abstract is attained, that will prevent any lateral shifting of the head i when it is lifted by the capstan screw 4|.

The head I is formed with a concavo-convex body 50 with side flanges 50a that may be considered as continuations or extensions of the side flanges 8a and 8b of the body of the abstract, being connected with the same by curved flanges 5m and 511) that form part of a gooseneck that connects the upright portion of the abstract to the head i that overhangs the key 6.

On the concave side of this body 50 of the head, the pad 52 is held, and I prefer to hold this pad in place without the use of an adhesive. For this purpose, I strike two tongues 53 downwardly from the material, as illustrated in Fig. 2, and when the pad is put in place, its edges are tucked under these tongues, and the tongues are then pressed forcibly against the pads edges. The edges 54 of the openings formed by the striking down of these tongues, cooperate with the tongues to hold the pad very securely in position.

The incidental downward inclination of the under side of the head toward the key, causes the capstan to keep the head riding on it. This eliminates any sliding action between the capstan and the head.

The concavo-convex body 50 of this head is formed so that when it is in operation, its end that is located toward the hammer, will be relatively elevated, or relieved away from the capstan screw, and likewise as to this portion of the pad that is held by the head.

By reason of the construction described for the base guide rail 42 and the main guide rail 44, an angle 55 is formed at the upper end of the edge 45, and in this angle I prefer to provide a supporting means for supporting each abstract if its key 8 is removed. In the present instance, this means consists of, a cable or cord 56 that may be strung along the entire length of the action and past all the individual abstracts 8. This cord is so located and the width of the slot between the tongues 49 and the body of the abstract, is such that a cord will not be engaged by its abstract during its travel occasioned by the striking of the key 6.

It is not essential that the abstract be guided in the manner illustrated in Fig. 1. This guiding can be effected by means illustrated in Figs. '7 and 8. In this case, I do not employ the tongues 49 at all, but I provide a guide rail 58 corresponding to the main guide rail 44. I also form the web of the abstract that connects the flanges 68, with a longitudinally disposed slot 62. Through this slot 62 I apply an L-shaped hook 63 that I screw into the forward edge of the rail 58. The upwardly projecting tip 64 of this hook, is located far enough away from the web of the abstract to insure that the abstract will not strike it during the travel of the abstract. When the key supporting an abstract constructed as illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 is removed, the abstract will drop down onto the L-shaped hook 63 which will then support it. The hook is encased in a sheath of tubing of a soft material such as rubber, that nearly fills the space between the side flanges 55.

In Fig. 6, I illustrate the detail of the connection I prefer to employ for connecting the foot of the abstract to the jack ll). This jack iii is preferably formed of Wood or similar easily worked material, and at the location of the pivot pin 65, I provide the angle of the jack with a relatively wide slot 65 cut back into the material so that the jack presents two forks 51. These forks are formed with openings provided with bushings 68 of felt, that turn freely on the surface of the pin 65. The ends of the pin are rigidly secured tight in the flanges Saand 9b of the foot 9 at this point. I consider the use of this slot 65 as highly advantageous, as its use enables me to employ two separated bearings for the pin 65 at the two forks. 'This arrangement is most desirable, as it obviates the necessity for bushing the ends of the pin in the abstract, which heretofore has been the necessary practice.

By forming the abstract of sheet material shaped up from a suitable blank, it is possible to adapt the abstract at different points on its length, to special forms that enable it to carry out the purposes of this invention. To this end I prefer to construct the abstract from a blank 69 having the general characteristics illustrated in Fig. 9, that is to say, it has an elongated body, one end of which is formed into a slight enlargement in width to form a head blank iii from which the head I can be readily formed.

At an intermediate point along the length of the blank 69, two laterally disposed downwardly projecting spurs 59a are formed, that eventually become the spurs 39 in the completed abstract.

At the proper distance below this point, the blank is made considerably wider, and formed with an opening 32a that eventually becomes the opening .32 in which the back-check is mounted. When this opening 32a is blanked out, it is formed with an inclined edge 3 la that eventually is bent over to form the inclined edge or lip 3i.

In forming up the abstract from the blank, of course the side edges of the blank eventually form the flanges that extend throughout the entire length of the abstract. In other words, the side strips 23a of the blank on each side of the opening 32a, are bent around into parallel planes to form the cheek plates or side bars 23 between which the abstract fits.

The tongue 38a formed in the blank eventually becomes the tongue 3Q which, of course, it is necessary to offset somewhat backwardly from the plane of the web of the abstract so as to give it the proper location to hold the spring 3! in place.

At the lower end of the blank as illustrated in Fig. 9, a long slot H is formed in the blank, that eventually forms the opening in the web of the abstract that it is necessary to have to provide clearance for the angle of the jack that is pivotally attached to the foot 9 on the cross pin 55.

The lower end of the blank is formed with a slot l2 between side tongues it that are bent around to form flanges through which the pivot pin i2 is applied, that attaches the foot 9 of the abstract to the whippen iii.

In the drawing, I have omitted illustrating the damper, and have not described in detail other features associated with piano actions, because they do not concern my invention.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination of an abstract having an adjusting element disposed in an inclined position and extending transversely to the plane in which the abstract travels, and a back-check movably mounted on the abstract and having a part resting on said inclined element and capable of being moved along the inclined element, and set in difierent positions along the same to alter the position of the back-check relative to the abstract.

2. In an action for a musical instrument, the

combination according to claim 1, in which the back-check is pivotally mounted on the abstract, and including resilient means for maintaining the back-check in engagement with the said inclined element.

3. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination according to claim 1, in which the back-check is pivotally mounted on the abstract with its body projecting forwardly, and having a butt end resting on the said inclined element; and a spring thrusting against said butt end between the inclined element and the pivotal support.

4. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination according to claim 1, in which the back-check is of substantially channel-form cross-section including a Web and side flanges projecting downwardly from the web, said web adjacent the body portion of the back-check having a seat for a pad, means integral with the web, projecting over the seat for the pad for clamping the edge of a pad of buck-skin or the like on the back-check.

5. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination according to claim 1, in which the back-check is of substantially channel-form in cross-section with a web and side flanges proj ecting downwardly from the web, said flanges extending rearwardl from the abstract, with at least one or said flanges engaging the said inclined adjusting element, and capable of being bent laterally with respect to the plane in which the abstract moves, to adjust the position ofthe back-check with relation to the abstract.

6. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination of an abstract having a pair of side bars, a back-check located between said side bars and having a pivotal connection thereto, said back-check having a butt end with a laterally movable part, said abstract having an inclined rest for said laterally movable part of said butt end, and a spring for holding said butt end against said inclined rest; said butt end and said rest cooperating when the butt end is moved laterally, to adjust the relation of the back-check with respect to the abstract.

'I. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination according to claim 6, in which the abstract is of substantially channel-form crosssection, including side flanges and a web connecting the same, said web having an opening therein adjacent the said inclined rest in which the back-check is mounted, the said butt end having a spring seat for the lower end of the spring, and in which the spring is a coil spring held in said opening in the web, and in which the abstract is formed with integral means for seating the upper end of the spring.

8. In an action for a musical instrument, an abstract having a body with a cross-section of substantially channel-form, including a web and side flanges, said side flanges having extensions offset from the body of the abstract, and lying substantially in the plane of the flanges respectively, to cooperate with guiding means to maintain the abstract in the plane in which it travels up and down.

9. In an actionior a musical instrument, the combination of an abstract to be actuated by a key, having a body withv a cross-section of substantially channel-form including a web and side flanges, said side flanges having extensions offset from the body of the abstract, and lying substantially in the plane of th flanges respectively, and a guide rail having means engaging the side-s of said extensions for guiding the abstract and permitting free movement of the abstract when the key is struck.

10. In an action for a musical instrument, the combination of an abstract to be actuated by a key, having a body with a cross-section of substantially channel-form including a web and side flanges, said side flanges having extensions offset from the body of the abstract, and lying substantially in the plane of the flanges respectively, and a guide-rail having slots for engaging the sides of the flanges and extensions for guiding the abstract at said offset extensions.

11. In an action for a musical instrument having a keyboard, the combination of an abstract having a substantially upright shank with an integral neck extending toward the keyboard, and having a head with a pad-socket on its under side, a pad held in said socket, a key with its rear end under said head, with means for engaging the said pad, said abstract having guide extensions offset from said extensions projecting away from the shank on its side remote from the said neck, and a guide rail having guide means engagin the said extensions and the sides of said shanks, and maintaining said neck in alignment with the rear end of said key.

12. An abstract for imparting movement of a key to a hammer in a musical instrument, said abstract having a body of channel-form crosssection with side flanges and a web connecting the same, said abstract having an integral neck at its upper end with a head formed integrally therewith to project over the key that actuates the abstract, said neck having substantially the same cross-section as the said body, including side flanges and a web connecting the same.

13. In an action for a musical instrument, an abstract having side bars with an opening between the same, a jack lying in said opening, a transverse pin mounted tight in said bars, and a bushing in said jack through which said pin passes.

14:. In an action for a musical instrument, an abstract composed of sheet material adapted to be formed in dies, said abstract being of channelform cross-section. including side flanges and a Web connecting the same, said web having an opening therein, a jack lying in said opening, a pin passing transversely through said opening, held at its end in said flanges and passing through said jack to function as a pivotal axis for the jack, said jack having a slot formed therein lo cated substantially in the medial plane of the jack at the location of said pivot pin, and dividin the hub of said jack into two forks; and bushings for said pin located in said forks.

15. An abstract for a piano action adapted to be formed in dies from a blank, said blank having an elongated body of substantially rectangu- .10 lar 'form having a'widened portion at about the middle thereof with an opening therethrough to receive a back-check in the completed abstract, said opening having an inclined edge adapted to form a rest for the back-check when the same is mounted in said opening.

16. An abstract for a piano action adapted to be formed in dies from a blank, said blank having an elongated body of substantially rectangular form having at its upper portion a pair of laterally offset and downwardly extendingspurs disposed opposite to each other and adapted to lie opposite to each other in substantially parallel planes in the completed abstract, so as to operate as means for guiding the abstract in its travel when actuated by the key corresponding to the abstract.

17. An abstract for a piano action adapted to be formed in dies from a blank, said blank having an elongated body of substantially rectangular form having a widened portion at about the middl thereof with an opening therethrough to receive a back-check in the completed abstract, said opening adapted to receive a back-check to be supported on the completed abstract, said blank having a widened portion at the lower end thereof with an opening therein adapted to receive a jack to be attached to the completed abstract.

18. An abstract for a piano action adapted to be formed in dies from a blank, said blank having an elongated body of substantially rectangular form having a widened portion at about the middle thereof with an opening therethrough to receive a back-check in the completed abstract, said opening adapted to receive a back-check to be supported on the completed abstract, said blank having a widened portion at the lower end thereof with an opening therein adapted to receive a jack to be attached to the completed abstract, said blank above the first-named opening having a pair of oppositely disposed laterally offset integral spur-s projecting longitudinally on the blank, said spurs adapted to be disposed opposite to each other and in substantially parallel planes in the completed abstract to operate as guiding means to cooperate with a guide rail.

19. In a piano action, a back-check to be mounted on an abstract, said back-check having cheek plates on its sides for pivotal attachment to the abstract, and having a butt end adapted to engage a rest on the abstract, said butt end constructed so that it can be bent laterally with respect to the longitudinal medial axis of the back-check.

20. In a piano action, the combination of an abstract having an opening therein to receive a back-check, said opening having an inclined bottom edge, a back-check having a web with integral cheek-plates at its sides resting against the sides of said opening, pivot mean-s at said cheekplates attaching the back-check to said abstract, said back-check having a butt end adapted to engage the said inclined edge, said butt end including an extension of one of said cheek-plates, and constructed so that it can b bent laterally with respect to the longitudinal medial axis of the back-check, said bent end and said inclined edge co-operating to regulate the level of the body of the back-check.

21. A back-check according to claim 20, in which one of said cheek plates is formed with a slot to weaken the same and facilitate the lateral bending of the said butt end of the back-check.

22. In a piano action, the combination of an abstract having a longitudinally extending slot, a hook passing through the slot, and means for supporting the hook, said hook and slot cooperating to permit free movement of the abstract in its travel, said hook operating as a support for the abstract when the same is disconnected from other parts.

LLOYD M. MARTIN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date Neill -1 Dec. 30, 1 879 Number Number Number 

